Yesterday was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We visited Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno Forest Monastery, also known as the Tiger Temple. What began as caring for an injured boar, led to the monastery welcoming all sorts of local animals. In 1999, they accepted a tiger cub which was saved from being stuffed. Since then, several tigers that have been intercepted from poachers have been brought for sanctuary. Today the temple houses many full-grown tigers and they are bred for eventual reentry into the wild. In the afternoons, the tigers are let out of their enclosures for their “exercise time.” Their collars were attached to chains several meters long, so they didn’t look to be getting much exercise, but they sat around for all the tourists. The place was definitely a tourist trap with high prices and lots of special things you could pay extra for. Nonetheless, its not everyday that you get to touch tigers, so we stood in an incredibly long line for our turn to get near the tigers and take some photos. The tigers have several-meter long chains and all tourists are guided around the area as only one person is allowed around near a tiger at a time. I was still quite a bit anxious about being next, much less touching tigers many times my size and weight. They were pretty docile though, which probably accounts for the rumor on the backpacker circuit that the animals are doped (the monastery says they have been brought up by humans since they were kittens, so they’re used to human contact). I did hear there was once an “incident” between a tiger and a water buffalo at the monastery though. Some of the tigers were enormous and touching them was intimidating. Their thin and short coat of fur wasn’t at all what I was expecting.

As we were leaving, Joylani and I decided to explore a bit more and discovered a couple staff members letting about a dozen tourists play with two eight-week-old tiger cubs. Right after we got there, they closed off the area as nobody is allowed in any open areas while the grown tigers are walked back to their enclosures. So it was just us and few others to play with the cubs. For twenty or thirty minutes, we sat in a circle and let the cubs walk around. We were told not to keep the cubs and let them walk where they want, which worked out for us, because they walked to Joylani’s lap and loved it there. They stayed with her, not wanting to leave. One did bite my hand, which didn’t really hurt since their jaws aren’t all that strong yet. The other licked my knee for a few minutes, between gnawing it and trying to get its jaws around it. So I guess besides seeing tigers, I can joke that I’ve been bit by one too now In all seriousness, seeing and touching the tigers was a real highlight.

what you don’t see in the other pics is the five million volunteers escorting us…

We’ve visited three WWII museums in the past 24 hours. Kind of a lot considering Kanchanaburi is a relatively small place. Not so many considering that tens of thousands of people died under the Japanese Imperial Army here between 1942 and 1945. Kanchanaburi is famous for the being the site of the bridge made famous in the movie “Bridge over the River Kwai.” More important than the bridge, Kanchanaburi was the headquarters and an important stop along the Thailand-Burma railway, today known as the Death Railway. Burma was the only theater that the Allies lost during the war (the others being the Pacific, Western Front, Eastern Front, and North Africa) and consequently its rarely taught in schools. Therefore, I’ll provide some historical background as always Although Americans are familiar with Pearl Harbor, it was just a small part of a much larger Japanese surprise offensive. On that same day, the Japanese attacked and overran British, French, and Australian colonial forces across Asia and the Pacific, from Hong Kong all the way down to Singapore. With East Asia under their control for ten years already, they took the whole of South East Asia within two months. By February, Japan had consolidated power from Indonesia to Burma. In those days, Burma was part of the British India, so Japan began moving troops to the Burmese front in order to launch a fresh offensive against the British into India, and also to cut the supply chain of Allied war materials to resistance forces throughout China (which went via Burma as the Himalayas were too big a transportation barrier). Also, the Japanese began shipping raw materials from Burma to industrial centers for processing. So Japan was shipping troops to Burma and raw materials on the way back.

Despite having conquered all of SEA, Japan’s ships were extremely vulnerable as they passed through the Malacca Straits. It is the only place for ships to pass from the Andaman Sea to the Gulf of Thailand and even today oil tankers are frequently attacked by pirates here. Anyways, American subs were sinking Japanese ships at an alarming rate in the Straits. So Japan planned to build a railway from Burma to Thailand, a railway that could deploy troops to the front and materials all the way to Bangkok. The British had once considered such a project, but abandoned it for being unfeasible. With its recent victories, Japan now had tens of thousands of Allied POWs and hundreds of thousands of Thais, Malays, and Tamils at its disposal. In 1942, Japan began shipping prisoners to camps throughout Burma and Thailand. In all, 61,000 Allied troops worked on the railway. An estimated 200,000 Asians were also conscripted to work. The museums we visited dealt with the hells that the POWs had to live through. The Japanese were slave drivers in their rush to complete the railway. I obviously cannot communicate in one post all the information that the museum conveyed, but it was horrific. Many of the photos we saw showed the POWs as little more than skeletons, their bodies wasted away from malaria, cholera, dysentery, and simple malnutrition. Latrines overflowed, barracks were incomplete, medical care was absent, and the little food was rotten and maggot-filled. The stories of sadistic Japanese guards beating prisoners, using various torture methods, and murdering men for the slightest offenses are saddening. Of the over 60,000 POWs that worked on the railroad, over 15,000 died, mostly British, Dutch, and Australians (only 131 Americans died). Records of Asian workers’ deaths were not kept, but it is estimated to be around 100,000 (although I never really trust estimates that happen to be convenient big round numbers). The museums all had war relics from both sides, stories from both sides, and gifts from each side. Back to the bridge, the famous “Bridge over the River Kwai” was just one of 8 steel bridges along the rail line. The Allies bombed it, using a new technology called Azon, which were the first radio-controlled bombs. Not so well known is the fact that when the Japanese saw the bombers coming, they ordered all the nearby POWs onto the bridge in hopes that a bombing would be averted. Dozens of men died when the bomb hit and locals said the river turned red with blood.

the bridge today

We visited the bridge which is a tourist attraction now, although two trains a day still cross it (Thailand repaired the bridge following the war). Its such a peaceful place now. We also visited an Allied POW cemetery honoring and holding the bodies of thousands who perished building the railway. In the past month or so, we’ve seen the atrocities of three wars and its all very sobering. Learning about the US’ Secret War in Lao, seeing the horrors of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and now remembering the inhumanity of World War II. Although depressing, I am thankful to be learning about all these things. These events need to be learned and remembered. Perhaps I cannot prevent them when they occur in the future, but I feel that they provide me more and more insight into mankind.

So we’ve been blogging for a bit now, and perhaps you’ve gotten to know us and the places we’ve been a little [more]. But I was just wondering…who reads this thing anyways? Our stats show more than six people have looked at it, so I know that it’s not just our parents and two web-saavy grandmas…

If you can, send us an email (mattandjoylani@homelesshapas.com) or comment on this post and let us know a little about one of YOUR favorite places to go, or about some of the fun things to do in your hometown. I’ll put together a post of responses…assuming I get any. Come on—audience participation!!! Yay!

(Upcoming post will not have any personal info unless you want it included. And if you don’t want your response included, just let me know.)

The Palace Museum—It didn’t take long to go through the palace, but I liked that. It is a modest palace. Spacious and with clean lines, void of elaborate tapestries and crazy mosaics of other palaces we’ve seen so far. It reminded me a lot of the Iolani Palace in Hawaii in terms of space and simplicity in design, only a little bit larger. The walls are mostly all white, with rich teak floors adding warmth and approachability to the open spaces. The king’s sitting room is painted with a beautiful mural depicting everyday Lao life. Some murals just sit on walls; they’re heavy and solid. Although it took up all four walls of the large room, this mural struck me as very lively and fresh. The different brush strokes skillfully placed to be illuminated by the daylight kept my eyes moving around the room to take in the whole scene (in fact, it was painted to look best in the light at the time of day depicted in the mural). One of my favorite things to do on a day when we’re not really doing much is to find a calm place to sit and read, write, or draw. The grounds outside the palace are a nice place to stroll or sit, which Matt and I took advantage of. There is this great round fish pond covered in water lilies and surrounded by coconut palms; we spent an hour or so just chillin’.

Noodle Lady and the Magic Peanut Sauce—“Foo or foo-ee?” Matt asked the waitress on our first night in Laos. He was trying to figure out the correct pronunciation for foe (or fue, as it was spelled on this particular menu), a type of noodle soup. “Faa,” she responded. Matt’s eyes lit up. Pho, Vietnamese noodle soup is one of our favorite. Laos is next to Vietnam, foe sounds like pho, so, logically, it must be good, right? Well, like most good dishes, it is hit or miss depending on who made it, but we found The Spot to go in Luang Prabang. Towards the end of the main tourist drag is row of sandwich stands. Across the street there is an alley where food stalls get put up during the night to feed locals and all the tourists willing to leave the “comfort” of the usual restaurants for the delights of a back alley meal, which may or may not be sanitary. (It depends on who sneezed where and if the water your bowl got rinsed with was clean or not.) This is where you will find the noodle ladies. Happily, the noodle stands are actually set up all day long, not just at night. Our favorite was the next to last stall. After finding an empty space on the bench, we would place our order—two beef noodle soup please. Noodle Lady would point to a basket full of fresh noodles, clarifying that we wanted the wide ones and not the skinny ones. We nodded in agreement and watched as she proceeded to make our bowls of soup one at a time. Some greens, bean sprouts, and noodles get placed in a wire ladle and are dunked in boiling broth for a quick simmer. Tomatoes and beef get sliced. The ladle’s contents are transferred to a big bowl, and the tomatoes and beef are placed on top. Peanuts, cilantro, and chives are sprinkled on top. Boiling broth is poured over everything, cooking the meat and fusing the contents together into one harmonious bowl of soup. The bowl is handed over, and now it’s my turn to complete the preparations. (Matt is a minimalist and generally eats his soup as it comes.) A condiment station is nearby: chili flakes, various types of chili sauce and paste, fish sauce, sugar. I go easy in this department, only adding what I presume to be a close match to siracha. The fresh additions are where I am more liberal. Two bowls are placed in front of us. One is filled with little chilies, lime wedges, and usually green beans or green onions. I squeeze a few limes, and throw in some beans. The other bowl is overflowing with a selection of lettuce, cabbage, pea shoots, basil, mint, and some other mystery greens. I add a little bit of everything (the pea shoots and basil are my favorites), then submerge it all under the steaming broth to make sure it’s good and cooked. By the time I am done preparing my bowl, Matt is usually about halfway done eating his. But that’s ok because mine is still steaming hot and as I prepare to dig in a small dish of sauce is placed next to me by Noodle Lady. Now, this isn’t just any old sauce. It is Magic Peanut Sauce, so named for it’s incredibly magical taste of peanuts, sweetness, and a little bit of spice all in one. The first time I had foe I just poured the sauce into my bowl. BIG mistake. Magic Peanut Sauce is best consumed unadulterated, unwatered-down. The best way to enjoy it is to fish out a slice of beef from the bowl of soup and dip it into the sauce, slowly savoring the juicy combination of tender beef with the sweetness of the peanut sauce. The Magic Peanut Sauce is one of the reasons why the noodle ladies of the alley in Luang Prabang is one of the best places to go for a bowl of foe. The other reasons are the delightfully fresh noodles, a crisp selection of greens, and the expertise of women who make noodle soup at least 14 hours a day, every day. Not all bowls of noodle soup are created equal (as we were to later find out throughout our time in Laos), and many places do not offer all the extras of the alley.

Other things deserving mention—Luang Prabang has one thing many places don’t—an abundance of baked goods. Real baked goods, not dry chocolate croissants and pitiful looking cinnamon rolls, but moist banana cakes, chocolate cakes, and a variety of other breads made with local produce (pineapple, mango, carrots, taro root). At least if I couldn’t eat my mom’s holiday desserts, I could still enjoy some banana bread. One morning while enjoying a nice taro root cake, we tried the wondrous Lao coffee with milk (sweetened condensed milk that is). The Lao coffee (I think the bean is different of something) is pretty good, but the s.c. milk made it into almost an instant frapachino. All you starving college students with finals out there, take note: sweetened condensed milk+coffee=poor man’s frapachino. One Lao offering that we did not try out was the roving pedicures (though I keep telling Matt he needs to exfoliate his heels…). Over the course of a few days I would see ladies getting pedicures at their shops, porches, even outside a food stall from a woman with a bucket of pedicure supplies. I saw it happening throughout town, but somehow it just didn’t seem so appealing to me. As far as other handicrafts go, the more appealing sort could be found in abundance at the Hmong night market. I was really amazed by what the vendors had to offer. It wasn’t the usual mass-produced junk I’ve seen so often throughout our trip. This was stuff I’d actually want to take home. There were beautifully appliquéd pillows, purses, bedspreads, and many items with little embroidered scenes of village life. Of course there were still some t-shirt stalls and other not-so unique items in the mix, but overall I was really impressed by the handicrafts, and it was nice to see a market with a different selection and quality of merchandise than what I’ve seen before.

We’ve been in Chiang Mai for over a week already. It has been a nice place to hang out and do some different things; Joylani took a 4-day Thai massage course and I went on a 3-day trek. It’s a large city by Thai standards at 1.4 million inhabitants. The north is supposed to be generally less touristy than the south, but the old walled city that we’re staying in is still quite touristy. The cheap western-oriented accommodation, the preponderance of Thai food prepared for Western tastebuds, and plethora of tourist services are convenient, but they almost take away from the experience. We could have our laundry done for us, have “VIP direct mini-buses” pick us up from our guesthouse, and pass our afternoons at expat cafes, internet cafes, and western bookshops, but we could do that anywhere; Khao San in Bangkok, Thamel in Kathmandu, Dharamsala in India, Sultanahmet in Istanbul, Plaka in Athens, must I go on? The only thing different about Thailand’s tourist hubs are there’s prostitutes everywhere. Anyways, its not that sending laundry out is bad (we often do) or getting door-to-door minivans to drive you around is terrible (we took one in Khao Sok), but it insulates travelers. Its much more interesting to eat real Thai food where locals eat it, travel in Thailand the way Thais do, and meet people whose sole interest in me is not to sell me something or get a commission.

lanterns for King’s bday

park in Chiang Mai

Wat Phra Singha

Despite it being the Thailand’s northern tourism capital and it seems we see as many Westerners as Thais, we have had a good week. We’ve spent some time just hanging in the gardens at wats and local parks, have explored the larger city a bit, and tasted some great local food. And although it’s been a good week, I am happy to be leaving. Chiang Mai, like most of Thailand, is a destination for both upmarket tourists as well as shoestringers, which makes it perhaps the most trodden part of the SEA “trail.” I realize that this post is a bit of a rant, but after a month in Thailand, I’m really ready to get on a less beaten track.

On Christmas Eve, I returned to Joylani and Chiang Mai from a 3-day trek. Rather than write a few paragraphs about what we did (touristy things like ride elephants, fun things like hike and swim, interesting things like visit hill-tribe villages, and adventurous things like rafting), I’ll write very little and let the photos describe the rest.

The only thing I really want to express is how much I love trekking. The scenery on this trek was amazing, from vistas of the rolling green mountains to walking through the bamboo jungle alongside the river. In addition to the scenery, the physicalness of trekking is fun. Being in the outdoors, in the trees, in the fresh air, experiencing the earth. Rock-hopping across rivers, balancing on logs across them, and sometime just splashing through. Even experiencing how rural villagers live is an education in and of itself; cold nights in bamboo huts with plenty of gaps in the floor and walls, no insulation, and certainly no electricity. I hate the sounds of squealing pigs and choruses of roosters in the mornings. But, on the other hand, there are few things I enjoy more than relaxing in the evening to the smoky smell of a wood stove and hot food. I wasn’t really expecting much, assuming that anything after the Annapurna Circuit would pale in comparison. Although it was different, it just reinforced my enthusiasm for trekking, experiencing the outdoors, and being in totally undeveloped totally foreign places.

we started of at a Karen “long-neck” village

then we did the ubiquitously touristy elephant rides

went across a river in this cage on a pulled thing

hiked over some really high hills with awesome views

most of the hike was through bamboo thickets/jungle though

we did pass some gardens growing cannibus (Chiang Mai is near the “golden triangle” opium-growing region)

saw some waterfalls

slept in rooms like this…just bamboo frames with flattened bamboo for walls/floor

and built a fire on our last night to keep warm

Chiang Mai is one of the main destinations in Northern Thailand that tourists head to. Although it has a sizeable population, Chiang Mai is definitely more laid back than Bangkok, and the touristy area is significantly more low-key than Khao San Road (as well as spread out over a larger area). I really like the guesthouse we are staying at. Not only is it SUPER clean, but the location is really great. It is set back from the main road and even back from the soi (lane) that it is on making it pretty quiet at night. The entrance to our soi is actually one of the local markets and we get to walk through it each day. I love passing by all the fruits and vegetables in the morning. Some I recognize, others are new to me. There are also people selling meat. The most interesting is the lady with the fish and frogs in big tubs. Throughout the day the supply lessons as she cleans them out and grills them on her bbq to sell to the shoppers. That’s the other great thing about the market—in addition to raw goods, there is plenty of prepared food. This has lent itself to us trying more new foods. One of my favorites is this sticky rice and red beans cooked in a bamboo tube. Another time I tried some noodle soup with meat and an egg that came in a series of plastic bags. It wasn’t so good, but might have been easier to eat (and perhaps tastier?) if I had a bowl to transfer the contents into. One morning I brought some fired chicken back to our room for breakfast. It was delightfully crispy and really good. Some oldies but goodies are available at the market too—mangoes and sticky rice (sold by the fried chicken lady), and kettle corn (buy the bag with the green writing, the yellow one is butter). At night the produce and fish vendors pack up their goods until the next day, but along the main street a whole new set of stalls are being set up—street food! Our favorite stop for dinner has become the red pork lady, followed by a banana crepe from the pancake ladies. For drinks, we head to the 7-11, also a convenient place to buy my daily intake of yogurt. It’s always nice to be near the food.

In addition to the abundance of food, there is also an abundance of wats. The city hosts over 300 wats, each one different from the others (at least of the ones we’ve seen). The general structure is similar from wat to wat, but the embellishments on the outside make each one distinctive from the others. Some are covered in glass-tile mosaics in just one color, or painted in just red with gold, some have elaborate ceramic tiling, and others sport simple clay relifs. My favorite is an all white wat that exudes a sense of calm in the moonlight. The wat complexes are relaxing places to hang out for part of the day. Many have benches, trees, and some shade.

Beyond site-seeing, the city is unique as a destination in that many people come here to take a class. There is a range of courses offered from language, cooking, jewelry making, Muay Thai (kick boxing), and the popluar Thai massage courses. I decided to take a short Thai massage course while I’m here. It’s been interesting. My instructor only speaks selected English phrases, making small talk about the city or questions on the ideas behind Thai massage not just difficult, but basically impossible. The class consists of a notebook with pictures of each step and my instructor showing me how to do it while I try my best to write down notes. This isn’t always easy because, since I am the only student, she shows me how on myself. Laying on my side with her foot on my back with one arm and leg being stretched isn’t exactly the best position for taking notes. After she finished a section (arms, legs, back, face) it would be my turn to practice. In general, I knew I was doing ok if she started to fall asleep. If I did something wrong, she would make a face and show me the right way, this was followed by an affirmative grunt meaning, “Yes, that’s right.” I tried to ask a lot of questions to be sure I was doing it right. Usually I was answered with a series of grunts, mms, and facial expressions. I have to admit, I got a little resentful by the end of each day because not only was she the one receiving the massage, but she seemed to be sneaking in little naps. And I was paying for this? My knees and fingers are sore at the end of the day—I’m not used to giving a massage for 2-3 hours a day! I came to the conclusion that taking a massage class isn’t so much for yourself as it is for others, and was encouraged by the thought that at least if I learned how to do this, Matt and my family back home could benefit from it (so far they seem very willing). Yesterday and today I actually left class early; I just couldn’t take it anymore. It gets boring practicing all afternoon. Plus, I think I got it down. We’ll see when Matt gets back tonight. He’ll be my first guinea pig.

You may be asking, where’s Matt? Well, while I have spent 5 hours of the last four days (ok, almost 5 hours…) in class, Matt decided to do the other thing people come to Chiang Mai for—to leave. On day trips and mini-treks, that is. The surrounding areas are home to jungle, waterfalls, rapids, hill tribes, orchid and butterfly farms, even an elephant sanctuary. So rather than do something like take a cooking class, Matt went on a three day trek. This is the first time we’ve been apart for more than a few hours in the last five months, but so far it’s been going well for me. I’ve been able to catch up on some writing and emails that I wanted to do, as well as start working on getting together some photos for our long-overdue album updates. Hopefully Matt has been having a good time too. We’ll see…!